A federal judge allowed a New York-based offshore wind project to resume construction on Thursday, marking the second time this week that the offshore wind industry has been handed a legal win in its efforts to resist the Trump administration’s crackdown on the renewable energy source.
Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Norwegian wind developer Equinor can resume construction on the Empire Wind project, which was paused by President Donald Trump, along with four others, in December.
Nichols, who was nominated by Trump during his first administration, said in his ruling that the project would likely suffer “imminent irreparable harm” if delays continued.
Equinor celebrated the ruling, saying it would focus on “safely” restarting construction activities that were suspended over the last couple of weeks.
“In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations,” the company said.
Empire Wind, located roughly 20 miles off the coast of Long Island, is around 60% complete.
It is expected to generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes and could start operations as early as October and be fully operational in 2027.
Developers argued that, if the administration’s pause remained in place beyond this week, Equinor would be forced to terminate the $5.5 billion project.
Last month, the Trump administration forced construction on Empire Wind and four other projects to stop over national security concerns.
The Interior Department specifically pointed to the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers, which create radar interference called “clutter.” The department argued that “clutter” can obscure legitimate targets and generate false targets in their vicinity.
This was the second time that the administration tried to shut down the New York-based project, having first issued a stop-work order for Empire Wind last spring.
The stop-work order imposed on the Empire Wind project in New York was lifted in May after the administration said it made a deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) to approve two gas pipelines.
Nichols’s ruling comes as a major blow to the administration, as it marks the second legal win for the offshore wind industry this week.
JUDGE ORDERS RESTART OF RHODE ISLAND OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT IN BLOW TO TRUMP CRACKDOWN
On Monday, a separate federal judge allowed construction on the Rhode Island-based Revolution Wind project to resume. This project was among the five targeted in December.
The pausing of a third project, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, is also expected to be taken up in court this week.
